1,000-armed Manjushri!!!
(By Tsem Rinpoche)
Dear all,
A few months ago, one of my students sent me a very interesting image of a 1000-armed Manjushri!!! I have never seen this form of Manjushri before, and instantly fell in love with Him!! I quickly got JJ to help me find more information on this beautiful form of Manjushri… and thought that I should share whatever was found with all of my blog readers.
This form of Manjushri is mainly found across China and Taiwan… Manjushri has always been one of my favorite Buddhas… I don’t know why, but I feel very close to Manjushri… I like any Buddha that can increase our wisdom and intelligence. To fully understand the Dharma, not just intellectually, but to understand it to the point where we can apply it and have some realizations, we need wisdom and intelligence… Do read the beautiful sutra translated from Mandarin Chinese by JJ.
I love this Manjushri emanation so much that I had JJ help make one for me… and beautiful 1000-arm Manjushri just arrived at my Ladrang a few weeks ago! Do look at the pictures below… Manjushri is stunning!!
Tsem Rinpoche
My beautiful 1000-Arm Manjushri in the Ladrang. This picture was taken a few days after He was invited into my room!!
A few days later, I had Joy and helpers painted Him. Real gold was offered onto Manjushri’s face.
When we paint a statue we should never view it as beautification for our viewing pleasure, but as an offering to the Buddhas. It’s best to offer as much gold and jewels as you can onto the Buddha statue…
Joy painting in the waterline of Manjushri’s eyes…
Painting the many Buddha Shakyamuni’s that Manjushri holds!!
Two of Manjushri’s arms being painted black and gold.
More arms being painted!
Lots and lots of arms being painted!!
Mantras that are specifically placed inside the statue at the stomach area.
Holy relics are sealed tightly with a ziplock bag and wrapped in a yellow cloth. Other items that are placed inside the statue are potpourri and mothballs.
Everything is kept in place with a yellow cloth, and then a wooden base is hammered on.
Lastly, a red velvet cloth is placed under the lotus base.
The different parts of the 1000-arm Manjushri statue coming together.
Manjushri with His gold face and features painted in.
Lord Manjushri looking very regal!
Wonderful well done job… Manjushri looks spectacular!
Joy is a talented artist that has been with me for many years now. She does the paintings on most of my personal statues.
This statue of 1000-arm Manjushri is truly one-of-a-kind.
A close-up view of Manjushri.
Stunning…
I love all forms of Manjushri… anything Manjushri…
The very first 1000-arm Manjushri statue in Kechara!
What a perfect Buddha… He has now been invited into the Ladrang.
Each of Manjushri’s hand has a Buddha Shakyamuni statue.
Excerpt of the Mahayana Yoga Vajratta Sagara Manjusri Sahasrabhuja Sahasrapatra Mahasasanaraja sutra:
Translated by JJ
Thus have I heard, at one time Buddha Shakyamuni was in Maheshvara Heaven in the palace of Vinangkamuni. The Buddha was on his many jeweled throne together with the Buddha Vairochana in the assembly of Vajra Sagara speaking of this Sutra. Present were many Devas and Brahmas and an assembly of Bodhisattvas and Mahasattvas.
In the assembly there was a Maha Arya Bodhisattva Manjushri who has a golden body. From his body emanated a thousand arms, with a thousand hands, each holding an alms bowl. From within these alms bowls comes forth a thousand Shakyamuni Buddhas. The thousand Buddhas continue to manifest limitless emanations.
Seated on his treasure throne in the midst of the great assembly, the Buddha told Samantabhadra, the great sixteen Bodhisattvas and assembly of Bodhisattvas Mahasattvas: “Listen carefully! I will now expound the blessings of Vairochana which enables all the Bodhisattvas of the Dharmadatu attain the state of Manjushri”
At that time, Vairochana Buddha told the thousand emanations of Buddha Shakyamuni: “In the past I have practiced the most secret Vajra practices, and from those practices, Manjushri is my teacher. After many eons of this Guru-disciple relationship, I have achieved the stainless pinnacle of Vairochana. With this attainment, I have become a cause for sentient beings to achieve enlightenment. I have become the source of immense Buddhahood. “
In the past, from the pure heart of Vairochana Buddha emanates the golden body of the Great Arya Manjushri Sahasra Bhuja Bodhisattva. Manjushri also manifested the secret mantra means of attaining this state of enlightenment. Buddha Vairochana spoke about the:
- Visualization of the syllable AH, leads us into the Deathless State is the embodiment of Tathagatha Vairochana.
- Visualization of the syllable RA, leads us into the nature of Emptiness free from defilements is the embodiment of Tathagatha Akshokbya.
- Visualization of the syllable PA, leads us into the insight that all Dharmas have been “Expounded in the ultimate sense, the embodiment of Ratnasambhava”.
- Visualization of the syllable TSA, leads us into the insight that the arising and ceasing of things cannot be apprehended because in reality there is no arising or ceasing, the embodiment of the Tathagatha Avalokita.
- Visualization of the syllable NA, leads us into the insight that all things are void of true nature, the embodiment of Tathagatha Amogasiddhi.
[Source: Mahayana yoga vajratta sagara manjusri sahasrabhuja sahasrapatra mahasasanaraja sutra from the Chinese Tripitaka Cannon]
Manjushri Mantra to increase memory
[Source: Chinese Tripitaka Cannon – Tang Dynasty – Amoghavajra’s translation]
1000 Arm Manjushri Mantra
1000 Arm Manjushri Puja
Description of 1000 Arm Manjushri
From the 1st and 5th chapter of the Thousand Arm Manjushri sutra, there’s a detailed description of how Manjushri manifested himself in this particular form. His full name the Exalted One 5 peaks 5 wisdoms 1000 arms, 1000 hands, 1000 alms bowls, 1000 Buddha Shakyamuni Manjushri Bodhisattva.
The name for this form of Manjushri comes from the fact that he has 1000 arms and each hand carries a monk’s bowl. In the Dunhuang Caves of 1000 Buddhas, there are two depictions of this form of Manjushri. Found in the 6th cave, Manjushri is depicted sitting or standing atop a lotus flower as big as mount Sumeru. He has 5 hair knots, a Buddha adorns his crown and he wears precious jewels and garments on his body.
The first two hands is held at the level of his chest, the left hand holds an alms bowl with a Buddha Shakyamuni inside. The right hand is held upright with both thumb and index finger touching each other.
The second set of hands is held at the level of the waist in meditation mudra holding an alm’s bowl with a Buddha inside the bowl.
(Source: 大乘瑜伽金刚性海曼殊室利千臂千钵大教王经卷一、卷五、Pelliot：LesGrottesdeTouen-Houang，I，Ⅱ）p743)
The remainder 1000 hands is divided by 6 levels, each level . There are 200 main hands which are found in the 72 cave. He wears the 5 Buddha crown and hands are stretched open forming a full moon. These wall paintings are from the Soong Dynasty and are part of the murals from the 1000 Buddha Caves in Dun Huang.
From the 6th Cave in Dunhuang
Monasteries with 1000 Arm Manjushri
1) Manju Buddha Monastery (曼殊佛寺)
(Source: http://www.chiefsun.org.tw/family/01_about/01_detail.php?Md=35&Id=2&Id=66)
Based in Taidong, Taiwan; this monastery holds the duplicated form of the Thousand Arm Manjushri statue from Chong San Monastery, Tai Yuan City, China.
1000-armed Manjushri
This is a beautiful duplicate of a Ming Dynasty 1000-armed Manjushri statue…
Close up of the statue…
Each arm holds a begging bowl…
A Buddha inside each bowl…
… there are 1,000 bowls!
The full frontal view of the 1000-armed Manjushri statue.
Manju Buddha Monastery.
2) Chong San Monastery (崇善寺)
(Source: http://baike.baidu.com/view/67859.htm )
Chong San Monastery is located in Tai Yuan City, China. It was originally named Bai Ma Monastery (also known as White Horse Monastery). During the early Ming dynasty (1383’s), the monastery was renamed to the name we know of today. The 1000 Arm Manjushri statue is located in the Compassion Hall of Chong San Monastery, along side with the 11 faced Thousand Arm Chenrezig and Samantabhadra. All 3 statues stand at 8.5 meter high.
Chong San Monastery.
Beautiful 1000-armed Manjushri on the altar.
An antique image of the 1000-armed Manjushri in Chong San monastery.
The state stands at 8.5 metres tall!
The altar in Chong San Monastery.
Entrance of Chong San Monastery.
Beautiful altar, so many offerings placed in front of the Buddhas!
You can tell from the roof that this monastery is very old…
8.5 m Samantabhadra statue.
Three statues lined side by side…
3) Mogao Cave
Mogao Cave, also known as the Caves of the Thousand Buddhas have over 492 temples, located 25 km southeast of the center of Dunhuang which is strategically located on the Silk Road in Gansu province, China. The earliest cave that was identified is cave no. 361 in the mid fourth century and the biggest cave is no. 99. The Thousand Arm Manjushri murals are found in caves no. 14 and no. 114. There are over 16 wall paintings in these two caves. At the crown of Manjushri, he wears a Buddha crown. Wearing a heavenly clothes with 4 arms in front of the chest holding two bowls with a Buddha inside, and one thousand arms around the body. The arms that layer closer to Manjushri’s holy body contains Buddhas inside the bowls, while the arms at the outer layer contains no Buddha images inside the bowls. Above Manjushri’s body is a parasol with sun and moon on both sides. Images of Boddhisattvas and protectors surrounds Manjushri, with 2 naga kings below Manjushri.
1000-armed Manjushri painting in Cave No. 14
Larger view of the painting in Cave No. 14…
Close up of the 1000-armed Manjushri in Cave No. 114
[Source: http://www.travel-silkroad.com/chinese/silkroad/lishi/dunhuang/xia1802.htm; http://enweb.dha.ac.cn/0025/index.htm; http://wangshiqi.lofter.com/post/bd8c2_180d38]
4) Xiantong Monastery (五台山千臂文殊菩萨)
Xiantong Monastery is located in Shanxi province, China. It was built in the Qing dynasty, and during this time, a beautiful 1000 Arm Manjushri was built in the Thousand Bowl Manjushri Hall. It stands at 5.4 meters.
The 1000 Arm Manjushri here is depicted as having five heads and ridding on a lion. He has as a golden body, wearing heavenly clothes, jewels and the 7 Buddha crowns. Two of his arms hold Shakyamuni Buddha on the crown of Manjushri’s head, two arms on the cheeks while holding 2 bells, another two arms on the chest with the left holding a bell and right hand holding a bell; and 1000 arms surrounding His holy body, with each arm holding a bowl with a Buddha seated inside.
Entrance of Xiang Tong Monastery.
1000-armed Manjushri on the altar.
A very unusual, but beautiful form….
[Source: http://zifengling1049.blog.sohu.com/187251864.html; http://news.chiculture.net/article/62/1400.html; http://www.wu-tai-shan.com/bbs/thread-211-1-1.html]
Other Forms of Manjushri
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Loving and stunning indeed this 1,000-armed Manjushri statues. I always love looking at 1,000-armed Manjushri since young. Even by looking at pictures or thangkas makes my day wonderful. I have seen the one at Dukar Apartment , simply amazing. Wow there so many monasteries with 1000 Arm Manjushri just in China.
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing those wonderful pictures and explaining the insight of Manjushri for us to understand better.
Mantras in the waters of Kechara Forest Retreat-Malaysia
Mantras represent the blessings of the enlightened beings in the form of sound. When we recite mantras they stimulate the various parts of our body to heal itself, to clear itself, to purify itself and to gain higher states of consciousness. Therefore, mantras are very powerful. They can be written, visualised or recited out aloud. The mantras of enlightened beings bless ordinary beings, animals, ethereal or formless beings and everyone in the environment.
In Kechara Forest Retreat, Malaysia, we have a koi fish pond, on which sits a magnificent statue of Manjushri, the Buddha of Wisdom. When the fish circumambulate around Manjushri they are blessed by his divine presence. At the same time, people who come to visit the pond and circumambulate around Manjushri receive the same blessings.
Along with the Manjushri fish pond, we also have a lake in Kechara Forest Retreat. In the middle of this lake is a Shakyamuni Buddha statue. In both these places we have placed Manjushri mantra stones underneath submerged under the water so that the animals, humans and beings who circumambulate these holy statues, not only circumambulate the images of the Buddhas but also sacred mantras. The is done in order to plant the seeds of enlightenment in their mindstreams so that in the future they are able to realise Bodhicitta, the realisation of Emptiness and higher states of consciousness. So, I thought I would share this little video with everyone. Thank you.
Tsem Rinpoche
https://www.tsemrinpoche.com
https://video.tsemtulku.com/videouploads/comment-1542840739.mp4
This video, narrated in Chinese, features Manjushri mantra stones. These are stones carved with the sacred mantra of Manjushri, the Buddha of Wisdom. The mantra of any Buddha is basically the manifestation of the enlightened being in the form of sound. Therefore, Manjushri’s mantra embodies the special qualities of his transcendent wisdom. Offering of these mantras stones is likened to an offering of Manjushri-like speech to the Three Jewels.
Sponsoring and offering such stones has the benefit of gaining deeper insight into spiritual practice, improving one’s memory, critical thinking, creativity, language and the purification of negative karma related to speech. It also promotes the development of powerful speech that has a positive impact on others.
In the video we see mantra stones placed at the majestic Four-armed Manjushri statue in Kechara Forest Retreat, Malaysia. The more stones are offered there, the more benefit it brings to the person circumambulating and paying homage to Lord Manjushri. These stones are available at Naropa’s Cave in Kechara Forest Retreat and can be offered to the statue of Manjushri here just as you see in the video.
Tsem Rinpoche
https://www.tsemrinpoche.com
https://video.tsemtulku.com/videouploads/comment-1542838906.mp4
Dear All
I would like to share with you the sacred prayer of Manjushri – A Concert Names of Manjushri (’Jam-dpal mtshan-brjod, Skt. Mañjuśrī-namasamgiti), which consists of 160 verses and mantra sentences. One version is translated by Alexander Berzin, a scholar, translator, and teacher of Tibetan Buddhism, and the other one is from FPMT.
Valentina
Rarely seen such a beautiful Manjushri statute…indeed auspicious.May Manjushri bless all sentient beings with wisdom to get through challenges in life…Om Ara Ba Tza Na Dhih
Dear Rinpoche,
Thank you for sharing such beautiful form of Manjushri. I’m in total awe when browsing through picture to picture, simply magnificent!
This form of Majushri has 1000 arms and each hand carries a monk’s bowl, with Buddha Shakyamuni – and i can’t help but thinking about the beautiful phrase from The King of Prayers
On every atom is found a Buddha
Sitting amongst countless Buddha sons,
I look with eyes of faith to the victorious ones
Thus filling the entire Dharmadhatu.
One of the best depictions on how a Buddha can manifest infinite in number to help sentient beings, just like the 1,000-armed Manjushri!
Great work also from Joy and the team of in-house artists, rejoice for all to have such great merits to paint rare Buddha statue!
I pray that in this and future lives I’ll get closer and never be separated from Manjushri, pray that I’ll be able to gain penetrative insight and to understand and realise the ultimate truth.
Thank you Rinpoche!
With much love,
Candice 🙂
Dear Candice,
Thank you very much for your comment. Yes it was a great pleasure paintings this amazing Buddha Manjushri 🙂
Since you have such a keen interest in Manjushri, I would like to introduce you to this post which is a MUST READ POST for anyone and everyone to know all about Manjushri and even how to engage in his sacred wisdom retreat to gain great clear wisdom:
https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/buddhas-dharma/all-about-manjushri.html
Another post which I think you may like is this one totled 7 FEET-1000-armed Avalokiteshvara arrived!!
https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/buddhas-dharma/seven-feet-1000-arm-avaloketishvara.html?nomobile
No we did not need to paint this one but you can read all about how we invited the Great Buddha of Compassion into Rinpoche’s house. Do let us know what you think after reading. Enjoy!
Dear Tsem Tulku ,
Yes Lhasa Kangyur Volume 91 roman pecha page (the numbers occur at the right top corner) 167 line 4 to 168 line 7 – the dharani of the 1000 armed manjusri although this is not mentioned in the tibetan text.
There is no dharani given on pecha page 190 line 7 Volume 91 Lhasa Kangyur except for pecha page 194 line 1 om vAk ye dam na ma svA hA.
I have done my homework already.
Dear Tsem Tulku ,
The dharani for the 1000 arm Manjusri is in the Tibetan Kanjur ,
in the text about the 108 names (tshen gyatsa gyed)of manjusri .But it is not mentioned that the dharani is that of the 1000 armed manjusri.
Wutai shan is supposed to have an image of the 1000 armed Manjusri.
I wonder if there is a 1000armed Maha Vajrabhairava?
Thank you Rinpoche sharing all those beautiful images of 1,000-armed Manjushri .May all of us be blessed by these glorious forms of Manjushri. All these beautiful forms of Manjushri is indeed very unique.I do hope i could one day visit the very first 1000-arm Manjushri statue in Kechara!
Thanks Rinpoche and the hard working team who did a wonderful job fixing
and painting of the beautiful Manjushri at Kechara.
.
Dear Rinpoche,
Thank you for sharing this holy form of Manjushri. Manjushri is such an important buddha because without relying on him, we could not acheive enlightenment. Thank you Rinpoche for sharing the long mantra of this form of manjushri as well.
Humbly,
Chris
Oh my word, stunning would be an understatement. I feel like prostrating to these glorious forms of Manjushri. They just have such a magnificence to them. May I and every being be blessed by the glorious Manjushri to practice the dharma too. Appreciate the effort by the Kecharians who assembled and installed the great buddha statue. How very meritorious. Also, to remember and recite the long mantra of the 1000 armed Manjushri seems hard but I am sure some diligent practitioners do it.
Hi, I am interested to know how to translate the dharanis from Chinese characters to Sanskrit, can anyone who knows how please share it with me. You can email to me directly or write here. Gassho!!!
Lovely painting by Joy and team for Rinpoche’s Ladrang 1000 arm Manjushri.
Thank you PJJ for the info and translation on 1000 arm MAnjushri.
The 1000 arm Manjushri is indeed beautiful and rarely seen in temples.
Thank you for sharing, Rinpoche.
Dear admin, I am writing in representation of the original artist and owner of the last three pictures under the section of Description of 1000 Arm Manjushri (the digital arts version). He firmly requests that his pictures and the relevant descriptions be taken down the soonest.
A really amazing 1000 armed Manjushri, not a very common type of Wisdom Buddha. With wisdom the Buddha can employ many types of skilful means to save sentient beings. May more and more of this imagery be replicated around the world and bless all beings.
These are wonderful images of the glorious Buddha Manjushri. This form of Manjushri is very unique and beautiful. Manjushri’s practice is perfect for students like me.
感谢仁波切在此分享那么难得的千手文殊菩萨。
其实，我也很喜欢文殊菩萨。。。因为就如仁波切所说的 ，文殊菩萨可以帮助我们增加智慧，远离无明。。。
我们是需要有智慧和清澈的想法来解决所面对的问题。。。善巧的运用智慧来解决问题，更能够达到利益众生的目的。。。
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing this stunning thousand arms Manjushri so bless to look at him. I must said Joy and Andrew do a good job so nicely paint and so much hard work.
So awe-inspiring! Thank you very much, Rinpoche.
That masterpiece is a labour of love. Such stunning work. Would love to get a view of it up close.
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing all these amazing magnificent 1,000-armed Manjushri, this is really an eye opener for me and visual blessing as well!
Oh My Buddha, the 1000 arms Manjushri was so beautifully paint! I felt so blessed to see this forms of Manjushri. TQ Rinpoche for sharing
Holy cow! Joy and Andrew really did transformed the bare statue into a real piece of art! The rest of the blog contents,the sutra in Chinese was too much for me, the category of people whose mental capacity like Chuda Pandaka. But I’ll be back to read more to understand them later.
These statues are lovely.
So is this sadhana, Do you have a .pdf of it for easier printing?
Thank you so much for all you do.
尊贵的詹仁波切，你好！谢谢您分享，因为这是我第一次看到的千手文殊菩萨的法相！千手文殊菩萨真好庄严和殊圣！我所知道，每位菩萨在不同的环境和道界会呈现不同的法相！
千手文殊菩萨的法相与我们所看到的文殊菩萨的法相有何分别呢？文殊菩萨帮助我们提高智慧和消除障碍，他呈现千手，是代表什么呢？
在此，希望仁波切长寿，吉祥如意！